#ssac2017

[bahhumpug]

I also got a short story advent calendar! I was a little late so now I have to catch up. Fun fun fun! #adventcalendar #hingstonolsen #ssac2017

[nicolebrewerwrites]

The stories of 2017

Hi, it’s March 2018 and I’m just now getting around to reflecting on my 2017 short story reading challenge! The idea was to read a short story a day, all year. Knowing I would definitely not keep this up, the ultimate goal was to read 365 short stories. I read 305 (through to November 1, theoretically).

I was surprised that I didn’t meet the goal, to be honest. I ran into some obstacles that I was not expecting!

> I wanted to read stories from a variety of places (journals, anthologies, websites), and I wanted to stay as Canadian as possible. I bought a few litmag subscriptions, but I’ll admit I was looking for free online content as well. And here’s the thing I feel like a dick saying: it was really hard to find places that published stories that really blew me away. I ended up with just a handful of reliable sources, and I found that really discouraging, so I actually largely resorted to short story collections, something I hadn’t originally wanted to do.

> When I would hit a string of stories that I rated 3 stars or less, I became super unmotivated. Because I didn’t have a reliable source for stories to get out of that slump, it seemed like the answer was either keep slogging, or start another collection. I was trying to also read novels, and I‘m not very good at reading more than one book at a time, so there were definitely weeks at a time where I would read only one or two stories after a string of bad luck.

> Sometimes, a string of 3-or-below stories would pop up partway through a collection, which was always surprising and disappointing. It would start strong and then halfway through it would feel like the stories were just recycled, with the same storylines, same quirky characters, and same narrative variations. This would throw me for a loop when it happened, and I would struggle for awhile with whether to finish the book or abandon. (I got better at abandoning as the year pressed on.)

So there you have it. TL;DR -- I am an elitist jerk.

But as someone who primarily writes short stories, this little quest of mine was weirdly distressing. I was often inspired, yes, by the great stories I read (there were a lot!), but this was my first big venture into the wide world of Canadian short story publishing and I was... disappointed.

Anyway, that’s enough of that. You can find my highlights from throughout the year here, here, and here, and below are the rest of my four- and five-starred stories! You can find my favourite short story collections included in my roundup of 2017 books here. In the home stretch, I read Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties and it’s one of the best short story collections I’ve ever read. I also loved Jill Sexsmith’s Somewhere a Long and Happy Life Probably Awaits You.

The last of the 5-star stories

"Born of Man and Woman" Richard Matheson from the Ghost Box "The Lottery" Shirley Jackson (yes this was my first time reading it) Short Story Advent Calendar stories 1, 2, 7, 12, and 20

The last of the 4-star stories

"The Clock" from the Ghost Box "The Night Wire" H F Arnold from the Ghost Box "The Late Shift" Dennis Etchinson from the Ghost Box "Savory, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme" Chelsea Quinn Yarbro from the Ghost Box "The Treader of the Dust" Clark Ashton Smith from the Ghost Box "Opening the Door" Arthur Machen from the Ghost Box "Shadetree" Michael Reaves from the Ghost Box "This Must Be the Nature of Things" Ben Ladouceur in Maisonneuve Short Story Advent Calendar stories 3, 4, 5, 9, 11, 13, 16, 17, 19, 25

[sweetpastas]

This year instead of the standard chocolate advent calendar, I purchased a short story advent calendar, which features a short story instead of chocolate! It’s an amazing creation and I’m so glad I bought it. The stories are so unique and clever.

[godgrrl]

On the fourth day of #Advent...Almond nutmeg latte, journaling with @heychookooloonks, and "Kings" by #hasanthikasirisena from the #ssac2017 from @hingstonolsen #writinglife (at Zinc Cafe & Market)

[godgrrl]

Advent discipline this year comes thanks to the @hingstonolsen Short Story Advent Calendar (which @balvenieboy suggested a few weeks back.) read my first just now-- great short story by Laura Hunt called "The Face." This is a keeper. #SSAC2017 (at Sinners & Saints Consulting)